A crew of teenagers were rounded up and locked up for allegedly plotting an “Islamist-motivated terror attack” targeting churches and synagogues over Easter weekend, authorities in Germany said.
Two teen girls, 15 and 16 years old, and two boys, also 15 and 16 years old, were picked up on warrants over the holiday weekend and are awaiting terror-related charges, German prosecutors said last week.
Authorities said the investigation was sparked by a tip that the 16-year-old girl planned to flee Germany and join the Islamic State to carry out terror attacks against the West.
Three of the teens — whose names were not released because of their ages — were arrested on a warrant in Duesseldorf, while the 16-year-old boy was picked up in Baden-Wuerttemberg, the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported on Friday.
According to mobile phone chats reviewed by investigators, the crew of would-be terrorists discussed a series of terror attacks in Dortmund, Duesseldorf and Cologne targeting churches and synagogues.
Police said the teens had not yet drawn up specific plans for the Easter weekend attacks when busted.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned last month that the Islamic State branch known as ISIS-Khorasan posed the greatest threat to security in the European nation.
“The threat level is still high. It was already high before the attacks in Moscow and has remained consistently high,” Faeser told reporters. “We have ramped up our security measures in the police [forces] but also in the intelligence services.”
Nearly 140 people were killed and another 180 were wounded at a Moscow concert hall on March 24 when four camouflaged gunmen opened fire, with the Islamic State claiming responsibility.
With Post wires
